Plenty of people I know are (quite rightly because it’s important) making or getting made videos for their business or personal brand. And some of them really need to stop right now!

Because whilst we all know that video is increasingly important for standing out and showcasing ourselves or our personal brand, crap videos won’t cut it in 2015.

I was recently watching a video on a small business’ website and I thought ‘This video is actually doing more harm than good.’ It featured a member of staff talking to the camera about the company and its offerings, and everything was wrong. The sound quality was awful, the staff member looked awkward, unfriendly and unapproachable, the video was completely unimaginative and boring, the framing was poor…. I could go on and on.

The stats say something like people are 85 per cent more likely to make buy, book or connect after watching a video. But not just any old video…..

We’re approaching an age where everyone has seen SO many videos that everyone is (quite rightly) a fairly experienced critic. Boring, dull and low quality videos harm your brand by making you look amateur and as though you don’t care. Viewers are unlikely to watch them for more than a second, they won’t share them and all the good things that are come from video, such as engagement and viewers feeling they like you or your business more, just won’t happen.

So before you do a video for your website, have a read of my pointers…..

• Think about production quality. ‘Selfie’ videos filmed from laptops and phones as unedited streams of consciousness are moving to live broadcasts on Periscope, and in meanwhile on Youtube and online, in the world of showcase videos for businesses and personal brands, the bar is being raised higher. Sound quality matters, as does editing and imagination. So get a proper mic and start thinking about how to edit a video that is actually entertaining as well as conveying your message.
• Switch from thinking about what you can tell people about you or  your business to what you can show them. Be imaginative. Don’t just sit and talk at the camera and deliver a monologue that plods tediously through from the day you were born to today. You don’t necessarily need to tell viewers your whole story or detail your offerings one by one. Take viewers on a tour. Let’s see you or your business in action, switch up your shots and pictures, change angles, change zoom, use cool effects such as a bit of fast forward.
• If you feel awkward then use voiceover. Record the footage that SHOWS your business and then overlay your voice onto it. That way you don’t have to worry if you don’t feel natural on camera, no-one can see you and it’s just a question of getting speaking into a dictaphone.
• Look at your positioning. If you want to appear personable, don’t sit like a statue, facing the camera and take up 1/6th of the screen. Lets get some close up shots in there.
• Learn to edit. You know what, programmes like iMovie are fairly easy to use. Don’t let technology baffle you.

Have a look at this video filmed by my cousin as a showcase video for a student guide she is developing. She could have sat down on a boring office chair in a boring room and said ‘Hello, I’m Nicole and I’m developing a student careers guide’ and YAWN we would all have clicked off it in 5 seconds.

Instead, she’s showing, not telling and using all sorts of effects from voiceover and focusing effects to fast forward and great music.